Bluebeat
Bluebeat was the first British record label for ska and reggae music .
Emil Shallit, a British businessman, imported singles from Jamaica from 1959 , which he wanted to sell to the immigrants. These, initially R'n'B singles, were marketed by his record company "Melodisc" on the "Blue Beat" label.
The plates are marked BB .
Since Blue-Beat was the only Ska label in the early 1960s, the British called Ska "Bluebeat" or "Blue-Beat". Numerous Jamaican productions by Prince Buster , Laurel Aitken , Coxsone Dodd , Duke Reid and other Studio One productions were re-released in the UK under the name Blue Beat .
Similar to the Blue Beat, the British called the newer Ska of the second wave 2-tone , as the first British label with this sound was called 2 Tone Records .
"Blue Beat" became a synonym for the music genre Ska , after several bands named themselves (e.g. The Blue Beat ).